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    Actionable Evaluation Basics: Getting succinct answers to the most important questions [minibook]
    Actionable Evaluation Basics: Getting succinct answers to the most important questions [minibook]
    Actionable Evaluation Basics: Getting succinct answers to the most important questions [minibook]
    Ebook66 pages44 minutes

    Actionable Evaluation Basics: Getting succinct answers to the most important questions [minibook]

    By E. Jane Davidson

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    About this ebook

    Readers have commented elsewhere:

    "Actionable and Accessible! An avid reader of anything Dr Jane Davidson writes - she lives up to her Genuine Evaluation reputation by providing a succinct guide that is also accessible in its format and price for those working in evaluation in international development contexts. kind of like being able to download your favorite song and not have to buy the whole DVD. I will use this more than those great, but big books that end up sitting on my shelf. She has set the bar for others to follow!"

    "Wow - I'm not sure what I was expecting from such a small resource but it's definitely good value. Well written, succinct and useful... I highly recommend this resource to all evaluators and look forward to more e-books from Jane."

    "Value WAY beyond the price. Definitely worth it... great perspective from one of my favorite evaluators. A master at the "right" questions that help you make useful decisions."

    "What a great resource - I highly recommend it to new evaluators as well as those of us who have been around a while. This mini ebook models the ideas that Jane is promoting - gets to the point, provides the key information, and does it powerfully and economically. It's often harder to write a pithy, 'simple' document like this, that distils what you need to know, than a detailed tome - and far more useful."

    "A great read for people who want to do evaluation or commission evaluation that is actually useful. If you have been unhappy with your experience of evaluation and wondering how it could be better, get this book."

    Please post a review to help others decide who this book would (or would not) be valuable for. What value did YOU get out of it?

    This easy-to-read, informative minibook provides a practical overview of 6 elements essential for actionable evaluation (of policies, programs, projects, change initiatives, services, etc.), as covered in Dr. Jane Davidson’s popular workshops on Actionable Evaluation.

    Actionable evaluation:

    (a) is clearly relevant to decisions and actions;

    (b) goes right to the heart of what is really important, doesn't get lost in the details;

    (c) favors approximate answers to important questions over 4 decimal places on trivia;

    (d) resists being lured into a focus on what's most easily measured;

    (e) presents findings in a way that is simple, but not simplistic;

    (f) is useful — at both strategic and practical (or operational) levels;

    (g) influences and clarifies thinking, action, and decision-making; and

    (h) gives insights that help people figure out what actions to take.

    The six key elements are:

    (1) a clear purpose for the evaluation;

    (2) the right stakeholder engagement strategy;

    (3) important, big picture evaluation questions to guide the whole evaluation;

    (4) well-reasoned answers to the big picture questions;

    (5) succinct, straight to the point reporting that doesn't get lost in the details; and

    (6) answers and insights that are actionable, that we can do something with.

    Dr. E. Jane Davidson is internationally recognized for applying critical thinking and evaluative reasoning to evaluation, policy, strategy, and program design. She is author of Evaluation Methodology Basics: The Nuts and Bolts of Sound Evaluation (Sage, 2005), which has sold well in the U.S. and internationally as a graduate text and evaluation practitioners’ guidebook.

    Jane brings a distinctively multidisciplinary and refreshingly practical, plain language approach to her work, which spans education, health, social policy, leadership development, and many other areas.

    She blogs alongside Professor Patricia J. Rogers on the entertaining and popular Genuine Evaluation blog.

    Since winning the American Evaluation Association’s Marcia Guttentag Award in 2005, Jane has delivered keynote addresses and professional development workshops around the

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherE. Jane Davidson
    Release dateOct 7, 2012
    ISBN9781301402854
    Actionable Evaluation Basics: Getting succinct answers to the most important questions [minibook]
    Author

    E. Jane Davidson

    Dr. Jane Davidson helps evaluators, evaluation teams, and organizations ask the right questions about quality, value, and performance - and get straight-to-the-point actionable answers. Jane is internationally known for her work in applying critical thinking and evaluative reasoning to evaluation, policy, strategy, and program design. She is author of Evaluation Methodology Basics: The Nuts and Bolts of Sound Evaluation (Sage, 2005), which has sold well in the U.S. and internationally as a graduate text and evaluation practitioners’ guidebook. Jane brings a distinctively multidisciplinary and refreshingly practical, plain language approach to her work, which spans education, health, social policy, leadership development, and many other areas. Since winning the American Evaluation Association’s Marcia Guttentag Award in 2005, Jane has delivered keynote addresses and professional development workshops around the world, in the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Canada, Denmark, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

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      Book preview

      Actionable Evaluation Basics - E. Jane Davidson

      Actionable Evaluation Basics:

      Getting succinct answers to the most important questions [minibook]

      By E. Jane Davidson, Ph.D.

      internationally recognized evaluation specialist

      director of Real Evaluation Ltd.

      Genuine Evaluation co-blogger with Professor Patricia J. Rogers

      Evaluation isn’t that hard, is it? ● What is Actionable Evaluation? ● What goes wrong when evaluation is unactionable? ● The six key elements for actionable evaluation: ● 1. clear purpose ● 2. the right stakeholder engagement strategy ● 3. important, big-picture questions ● 4. well-evidenced, well-reasoned answers ● 5. succinct, straight-to-the-point reporting ● 6. actionable insights ● conclusions ● resources and more information ● about the author

      Copyright 2012 Real Evaluation Ltd.

      Smashwords Edition (October 7, 2012)

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. No part of this ebook may be reproduced or redistributed in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except for short quotes with full attribution to the author including the title of the publication.

      ~~~~~~~~~~

      Evaluation isn’t that hard, is it?

      Do you ever get frustrated with people who think that all there is to evaluation is picking a few indicators and measuring them? The same ones who think all qualitative and even mixed method work is fluffy and unreliable?

      And, on the other hand, have you ever read (or written!) an evaluation report and still wondered yourself how worthwhile the outcomes really were or whether the entire program (or project, policy, etc.) was in fact a complete waste of time, effort, and money?

      At one level, we can understand managers’ needing direct answers to their important questions – and trackable progress they can visualize. But how can evaluators deliver on that without massively oversimplifying the richness we see in project, program, and policy design, implementation, and outcomes?

      Introducing actionable evaluation!

      What is the

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